Scouting Report – Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech

For three quarters neither offensive team was able to do much, then things got entertaining. Virginia Tech QB Logan Thomas is my preseason #3 ranked draft eligible QB, but he struggled for the majority of the game. His passes for the most part were sailing on him and he was having a hard time getting his timing down with a new receiving corps. With just over 9:00 left in the 4th quarter, and down 10-7, he finally got things together and completed a 42 yard bomb to put his team ahead 14-10. Georgia Tech responded with a gritty 13 play, 72 yard drive that took over 7:00 off the clock. The Yellowjackets converted a 4th and 6 and then scored on a 10 yard pass to take a 17-14 lead with less than 1:00 left. It looked like the game was over, but Thomas was able to get his team into field goal position and tied the game at 17 to send it to overtime. In overtime, Yellowjacket QB Tevin Washington, who had played well, made a horrible throw that was intercepted by the Hokies. The Hokies kicked the field goal on their possession in overtime to escape with a 20-17 win.

One thing that really impressed me was how hard the Georgia Tech defense played. They were shorthanded and only rotated 14 players, but they played their hearts out and for 3 ½ quarters controlled the Hokies offense.

Here are my thoughts on the draft eligible players that played in the game. I will start with the winning team.

Virginia Tech:

Logan Thomas – QB- Jr: Logan Thomas is a huge quarterback. He is 6’6” and over 250 pounds. He runs like a fullback and is extremely hard to bring down. Looking at his body, it’s not hard to imagine that he was recruited as a tight end. His height gives him an advantage seeing over the pass rush. He lost his top two receivers to the NFL and early on it showed. Thomas had a hard time getting his timing down with the new receivers and the majority of his passes were high. However, when the game was on the line in the 4th quarter, he stepped his game up and led his team to a win. He completed 21 of 38 for 230 yards and 2 TD’s (5 yards and 42 yards). He also had 40 rushing yards on 15 attempts.

Joey Phillips – FB – Sr: Doesn’t get much playing time in the Hokies new pistol offense. He made one catch for 4 yards, but it was a very nice one-handed catch.

Marcus Davis – WR – Jr: Davis is a tall receiver with amazing athletic ability. He catches the ball well with his hands and does a good job extending his arms away from his body. He is electric when he gets the ball in space. He runs a 4.37 40 yard dash and has a 44” vertical jump. The knock on him is his consistency and possibly taking plays off. He left late in the game with what looked like an arm injury. Hopefully the injury is nothing serious. He had 6 catches for 82 yards with a long gain of 35 yards.

Corey Fuller – WR – Sr: Fuller was probably the Hokies most consistent receiver all night long. He had 5 catches for 82 yards and had a big catch at the end of regulation to set up the game tying field goal.

Eric Martin – TE- Sr: Martin only had 1 catch for 5 yards, but it went for a touchdown. He was targeted on a couple of other passes, but the passes were not catchable.

James Gayle – DE – Jr: Gayle showed good pass rush ability, getting a sack of Tevin Washington. He also had 3 tackles on the night.

J.R. Collins – DE – Jr: The Hokie game plan was to use Collins’ quickness and have him go parallel to the line of scrimmage to disrupt the Yellowjacket rushing game. It worked pretty well. Collins made two big stops, one on 3rd down to force a punt and then another on 4th down. He had 6 tackles, 1 ½ tackles for loss and 1 QB hurry. He dominated the line of scrimmage all night long for the Hokies.

Derrick Hopkins – DT – Jr: Derrick Hopkins is a 306 pound space eater. He did a good job tying up blockers and making it hard for the Yellowjackets to run inside. He had 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and ½ sack.

Antoine Hopkins – DT – Jr: Antoine is Derrick’s brother and they teamed up to keep the Georgia Tech inside game bottled up. He had 3 tackles.

Jack Tyler – LB – Jr: Tyler is an instinctive player that follows his keys and is hard to fool. He does a good job tackling in space. He had 17 tackles and 2 tackles for loss.

Jeron Gouveia-Winslow – OLB – Jr: Jeron is the son of former Redskins linebacker Kurt Gouveia. He plays a lot like his dad. He made plays all over the field all night long. He got off of blocks well to make plays in the running game and also pressured the QB in pass defense. He is a big hitter that tackles well in the open field. Gouveia-Winslow had 11 tackles and 1 QB pressure in the game.

Bruce Taylor – MLB – Jr: Bruce Taylor quietly had a good night. He had 6 tackles, ½ tackle for loss, ½ sack and a QB hurry. He really stepped up his game at the end of regulation and overtime, getting the ½ sack in the last 2:00 over regulation and then his QB hurry was what led to the interception in overtime.

Kyle Fuller – CB – Jr: Fuller had a big game. His interception in overtime gave the Hokies the chance to win the game. He also had a tackle for loss on a screen. He showed that he can play the deep pass or defend the screen.

Antoine Exum – CB – Jr: Exum is a former safety, starting his first year as a corner. He showed that he is quick to come up in run support. He also did a good job in pass coverage.

Georgia Tech:

Tevin Washington – QB – Sr: Washington has no value as an NFL quarterback. If he makes it to the NFL, it will be after changing positions. He is a very good option quarterback that makes good decisions distributing the ball. Washington gives great effort running the ball and spent more time in the offseason working on his passing. He completed 10/15 for 96 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT, but his last pass was a very poor decision that he floated towards the goal line and was picked off. The interception gave Georgia Tech no shot at winning the game. Washington also rushed 19 times for 63 yards.

Robert Godhigh – RB – Jr: Robert Godhigh is a small, ultra-quick running back that is effective once he gets to the edge of the defense. He bounces off tackles well. He only got 3 rushing attempts, but rushed for 12 yards and 1 TD.

Orwin Smith – RB – Jr: Orwin Smith is the Yellowjackets best weapon on offense. In 2011 he averaged over 10 yards per carry and over 23 yards per catch. He has the ability to make big plays. He runs good routes and can get downfield in the passing game. He is a complete player, able to run, catch and block and he has good field awareness. He only had 3 yards rushing on 4 attempts, but he was their best receiver, making 4 catches for 52 yards.

David Sims – RB – Jr: Davis Sims plays what they call the A Back which is basically a fullback lined up behind the QB. He missed the first half, but had a good second half. He was able to get the running game going inside, which was missing in the first half. He did a good job finding creases in the interior of the defense to slither through. He is a physical runner that lowers his shoulder and takes on defenders. He is a better receiver than you would think, but he needs to work on his blocking. Sims had 13 carries for 42 yards.

B.J. Bostic – RB – RS Soph: B.J. Bostic had a good game, making plays running the outside sweep and catching passes. He has good feet and eludes tackles. Bostic had 5 carries for 35 yards and 1 catch for 19 yards which converted a 4th and 6.

Deon Hill – RB – RS Soph: B.J. Hill was not used in the running game, but he had a big time TD catch that almost won the game in regulation. He had 2 catches for 9 yards and 1 TD.

Omoregie Uzzi – G – Sr: Uzzi was the #5 guard on my preseason list of draft eligible players. He is not a dominating run blocker, but he has very good feet. He does a good job cut blocking which is important in the option offense that his team runs. Uzzi also does a good job getting to the second level to block linebackers and can pull on sweeps. I see him as fitting into a team that runs a zone scheme.

Izaan Cross – DE – Sr: Izaan Cross is a 3 year starter for the Yellowjackets. He does a good job tying up blockers and making plays. He had 2 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and ½ sack.

Jeremiah Attaochu – OLB – Jr: Attaochu is tough and disruptive in run defense. He doesn’t quit on a play and plays until he hears the whistle. Attaochu was instrumental in shutting down the Hokie rushing attack and had 10 tackles, ½ tackle for loss, ½ sack and 1 QB hurry.

Quayshawn Nealy – ILB – RS Soph: Quayshawn Nealy is a linebacker that can make plays in both run and pass defense. He does a good job reading and playing the quarterback in defending the option. He had 6 tackles and ½ tackle for loss.

Rod Sweeting – CB – Sr: Rod Sweeting did a good job in pass coverage all night. He played with good technique and broke on the ball when it was in the air. He closes well on plays in front of him. Sweeting had 6 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 2 passes broken up.

Jemea Thomas – CB – Jr: Jemea Thomas is a versatile player. He is a good press cover, but he also comes up quick in run support. Thomas is also the Yellowjacket’s punt returner. He had 4 tackles and 1 tackle for loss.